Tuesday, February 7, 2012

The start of the New Year has meant declarations of new eating habits for families everywhere. We all know that whole grains are important and the Dietary Guidelines recommend choosing products with a whole grain listed as the first ingredient.

However, I don't think that there is a parent out there that hasn't opted for convenience at least once, even if it meant that the health aspects were, shall we say, slightly less than desirable. But how can we ensure that the meals that we are eating and giving to our families are including those whole grains?

General Mills has now made that much easier, thanks to their full line of cereals with the white check.

Every General Mills cereal with the white check has more whole grain than any other single ingredient with the same great taste, so now there is never any confusion!

According to Dr. Travis Stork, emergency room physician and host of "The Doctors," identifying whole grain products can be challenging. Shoppers can look for nutritional cues on the front of the box, but they need to read the ingredient list to know if they are getting enough whole grain as sometimes the wording can be misleading.

Ingredient lists detail ingredients in order of prevalence, and if the words "whole grain" are followed by a grain like wheat or oats, it means the food contains more whole grain than any other single ingredient. What a simple and easy way to remember and know that you're purchasing the most healthy items for your family!

With all the health messages facing grocery store shoppers, it can be confusing to translate what appears on food labels into nutritional needs, and hard to determine which foods have a meaningful amount of whole grain. Dr. Stork has some additional recommendations to help you include whole grain easily into your diet. They include:

Start Early! The Dietary Guidelines recommend people get at least 48 grams of whole grain in their daily diets. Get a jump-start on the day's nutrition by incorporating whole grain into your morning routine. For instance, when choosing cereal make sure whole grain is listed as the first ingredient. One easy choice is cereal with the white check, which have more whole grain than any other single ingredient.

Make Simple Swaps. Choose whole grain versions of the foods you love. Great options include whole wheat pasta and whole wheat bread or even whole grain crackers. Also, try different types of whole grain. Use brown rice instead of white rice as a side dish at dinner or popcorn, which is a whole grain, for a snack.

Don't Judge a Food by Its Cover. The front of food packages provide good nutritional cues, but don't forget to read the ingredients and check the nutrition label and side labels for additional health information. Cereals with the white check even include the amount of whole grain per serving on packaging.

To help with choosing products with whole grain, General Mills developed "Fast Lane for Whole Grain," an online educational game. Consumers can navigate virtual grocery store aisles and identify products that have whole grain as the first ingredient, with the option to enter a sweepstakes to win one of each of the 50 cereals with the white check.

I had a lot of fun racing my shopping cart down the aisle and picking up the foods containing whole grain!

Make a commitment to add more whole grain to your diet by simply pouring a bowl of cereal with the white check including Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Honey Nut Cheerios and Total.

We had a chance to sample all five and each one was a big hit, just as I knew they would be. These are classic cereals that I have loved since childhood as well!

For more information on the importance of whole grain and a chance to enter the "Fast Lane for Whole Grain" sweepstakes, visit the Whole Grain Nation website. And, thanks to the generosity of General Mills, one person will get to enjoy a tasty whole grain-filled breakfast as well, because...

One lucky person will win 5 boxes of General Mills cerealwith the white check!

To enter to win: Leave me a comment telling me which of the General Mills cereals with the white check would you most like to have to start off your morning?

Extra Entries (available after the mandatory entry above is completed; please leave a separate comment for each entry in order for them to be counted).1 Extra Entry (per giveaway entered) - Enter any (or all) of the giveaways running on Thanks, Mail Carrier for the duration of this giveaway.1 Extra Entry if you follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting the tweet below and leaving me the link. Tweet daily for an extra entry every day!

1 Extra Entry (per follow method) if you follow me with Google Friend Connect, subscribe to my RSS feed, subscribe to Thanks, Mail Carrier by email, become a fan on Facebook or add Thanks, Mail Carrier to your blogroll.2 Extra Entries if you put my cute button up on your blog. Please leave an address where it can be found.3 Extra Entries if you blog about this giveaway linking back to this post. Please leave an address where it can be found.

Giveaway will end on February 28th at 11:59pm CST. By entering this sweepstakes, you are agreeing to these official rules. No purchase necessary, void where prohibited by law. Do me the favor of leaving an email address or making absolutely sure it is visible in your profile, I have to have a way to contact the winner. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and entrants must be 18 years of age or older.

A big thank you to General Mills through MyBlogSpark for providing a the prize pack, information and giveaway. The opinions shared are my own and honest and if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.